R.I.P. Maurice Sendak; Remembering the Where the Wild Things Are author, in photos

The author, who was best known for his 1963 book Where the Wild Things Are, was celebrated for his whimsical style, in writing and illustrating. Here, we remember the author with a collection of memorable photos.

Celebrated children’s author Maurice Sendak died on Tuesday following complications of a stroke. The author, who was best known for his 1963 book Where the Wild Things Are, was celebrated for his whimsical style, in writing and illustrating. Here, we remember the author with a collection of memorable photos.
Handout

Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are was memorably adapted for the big screen in 2009, but in 1985, the book received the opera treatment in St. Paul, Minn. Here, Sendak poses with one of the characters in the show.

Jason Reed / Reuters
Jason Reed / Reuters

On two occasions recently — in 2008 and just last month — the annual White House Easter Egg roll featured a reading of Where the Wild Things Are. Above: Jenna Bush, daughter of former U.S. president George W. Bush, reads the book in 2008, and the Obamas (First Lady Michelle, U.S. President Barack, and their daughters Sasha and Malia) read it in 2012.

HarperCollins
HarperCollins

And of course, we couldn’t forget art from Where the Wild Things Are itself, which Sendak drew in a style that was truly all his own.

Handout

Sendak’s talent for art was not just relegated to his children’s books: Above, the author works on an advertising campaign in 1988.

Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.

In 2009, director Spike Jonze adapted Where the Wild Things Are — a book that was very short on text — into a feature-length film starring Max Records, Catherine Keener and James Gandolfini, with a soundtrack by Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (watch the trailer at the end of this post).

Warner Bros.

Sendak paid a visit to the set of the film, where he chatted with director Spike Jonze.

Lucas Jackson / Reuters

In 2009, the intersection of Greenwich Village and Christopher Street in New York City was temporarily renamed, as part of a tie-in with the 2009 Where the Wild Things Are film — the book was written in the area.

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